Stolen Identity

By Terry Phong
There is a random police checkpoint up ahead in the road. You think to yourself, "that's kind of inconvenient, I wonder what's going on?" A police officer walks up to your window and asks for your identification to which you oblige. The officer goes back to his squad car punches in your ID. Moments later you are asked to step out of your vehicle and to place your hands behind your head, the officer announces, "you are under arrest!" You are in utter shock and disbelief; you ask yourself "what in the world has just happened?" Believe or not, you have just become another victim of identity theft. It is no longer a question of, if it will happen to you but more like when it will happen to you. Identification theft is now considered an epidemic according to ABC Local News Broadcast; it is the fastest growing white-collar crime in America. We must learn how to avoid being the next victim by deterring, detecting, and defending our identities.

There are several types of ID theft. The story above represents driver's license theft or also known as criminal identity theft. This occurs when a thief gets hold of your driver's license or identification and commits various driving violations under your name. The police stop you and you have no idea that there's a warrant out for your arrest. Can you imagine getting pulled into the police station and actually being interrogated with crimes you did not commit? Most individuals would not only find it shocking but traumatizing as well to have to go through such an ordeal. These days it's quite common for criminals to commit crimes under a fake name. Whenever they get busted they already hold your fake identification in position so the criminal offense will go under your name. You should never let your driver's license be out of view or your ownership. Always be extra cautious with safeguarding your driver's license or ID card.

Credit card fraud is the most common of all identity theft. Instances of these crimes also involve children. One story I read involved a young ten-year-old girl. The culprit, who had assumed the young lady's identity, in six year's time, had her credit report full of credit cards and even a mortgage to a home! Due to the fact the young lady did not discover that her credit score had been damaged until much later, she was required to waste many years attempting to correct the damages done. When you provide your credit card at an eating-place or anywhere in which the credit card is out of your view, you potentially run the risk of having your identity stolen. There are unscrupulous characters out there that will not think twice to get your charge card information and then sell it to somebody else so it can't be tracked back to him or her. When you happen to be in a scenario where your credit card will probably be out of your view, try to pay at the register yourself instead.

Perhaps the most serious of all ID theft is having your medical identity stolen. You have not seen your doctor for a while and you decide it is time to go in for a check-up. The doctor asks you, "When did you contracted AIDS?" You nearly fall off the patient's table as you are in complete shock. Somehow your medical records indicate that someone had a HIV examination under your identity and the results were positive. How about getting a call from Child Protective Services accusing you of giving birth to a drug-addicted baby? The thing is, criminals live a high-risk way of life and usually aren't getting medical attention under their own identification. Therefore these people find ways to attach onto their victim's identity and medical insurance to put their doctor visits and hospital stays onto your medical history. It is now your task to remove the false information, which could have resulted in large medical bills, higher insurance premiums or worst yet having your insurance completely canceled. The best way to protect your self from medical identity theft is to ask your insurer for yearly statements and check your explanation of benefits every time you receive one from your insurer. You can also request a copy of your own medical records from your doctor too if you suspect that you are a victim of medical ID theft.

Don't expect advances in technology to stop the fastest growing crime for both online and off any time soon, if anything technology has only aided in the efforts of today's savvy criminals. Here are some ways to deter criminals from stealing your identity. Protect your social security number and your driver's license/ID, shred important documents and have a lock on your mailbox if possible, limit the amount of personal information you give out on the internet, and look into getting some type of identity theft insurance. Learn to detect what some of the telltale signs of ID theft are, such as items on a statement you don't recognize, not receiving your bills, receiving credit cards you didn't apply for or being denied credit. After you have taken the steps to deter and detect, it's now time to defend. One way we can do that is to place fraud alerts on both credit cards and credit reports, close off all accounts that you don't use or you suspect to have been tampered with, and lastly file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission if you have fallen victim to identity theft. Although very little can promise that you will never become a victim of identity theft, you could reduce your risk, and lessen the actual damage if a situation occurs, by making it harder for ID thieves to gain access to your important personal information.